The burning darkness
by shangri-la-gypsy
Summary: Something invades the comatose mind of Severus Snape, it's up to Aaniki, Harry and the gang to sort it out
1. Chapter 1

Dark wizard.  
  
It's a crime to slay a Unicorn did you know that? Of course you didn't. It was something Professor Severus Snape of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry knew only too well.  
  
It had been little over a year when his former master and dark lord of the death eaters had been destroyed. He had known not to kill a unicorn but his hunger to outwit those at Hogwarts and especially Dumbledor had been so huge it seemed to have outweighed the risks. Good thing he was truly gone Snape thought to himself ask his hand lazily scraped a tick against Harry Potter's homework.  
  
"Delightful boy, if only he would curl up and die that is." He muttered to himself putting the parchment on top of the pile. This was always the part he hated about being a Professor, the marking. Quite seriously he didn't know why he had become a professor of Potions - maybe Dumbledor could answer that one.  
  
A harsh knocking suddenly disturbed him, which deepened his foul mood even more. He looked up, his dark eyes clouded with annoyance.  
  
"Yes?!" He shouted putting the black quill pen into the inkpot. If it were one of those pesky students they would regret asking him for help.  
  
He pasted a sarcastic smile on his face as the door squeaked open to reveal the person who had disturbed his silent revelry.  
  
"Ah Severus, I expected I'd find you here." He chuckled with a hint of wisdom in his voice. He strode up to Severus' desk, his robes flowing behind him as he did so. Standing ever so close to the potions professor Dumbledor's expression became deadly serious and it made the hairs on the back of even Severus' neck stand up.  
  
"If you have something important to say Albus spit it out." Snape barked careful not to let his worry seep into the tone of his voice. The head of Hogwarts nodded quietly. What is this? Albus Dumbledor quiet? Snape thought, must be something pretty important.  
  
"Estella, she's been found." Albus replied in a cold tone. Severus' blood ran cold making him shiver. Albus was wrong.  
  
"She hasn't." He replied digging his nails into the palms of his hands but Albus soothingly put his hand on Snape's arm.  
  
"I am afraid it is true my friend." He said removing his hand as Snape tried to shake it from his arm. This was the kiss of death on his existence. Estella was one of the most powerful dark sorcerers in the history of Hogwarts School and before she dissolved into shadow, he was number one on her hit list. But this was not a time to panic; he had to be cool and calculating to figure her every move.  
  
"Where is she now?" He asked staring at the test tubes on the nearest desk with apparent interest. "Resting in our school medical wing."  
  
Snape's face went a putrid white colour; his eyes losing their black sparkle went dead. This couldn't be happening, was Dumbledor mad?! Estella, no matter what state she was in would soon regain her murderous urges and come for him the instant her legs would carry her.  
  
"I have no choice but to leave the school Albus." He stated standing up with purpose. He was soon defeated as the older wizard put a controlling spell on him and forced him to sit down.  
  
Defeated he was made to listen to Albus' reason, as much as he detested it.  
  
"She is in no fit state to cause you harm Severus, because when I say resting. I mean that she is in a petrified coma that she will most probably not wake up from."  
  
"Then what is she doing here for Merlin's sake?!" The potions master shouted fighting against the spell to stand up. "If she will never wake, why not leave her in the dark forest to be eaten by the savage beasts or better still SEND HER TO AZKABAN!"  
  
Albus actually looked shocked at Snape's words, he was taking sides with this murderess of the dark and Severus would not take this not from any muggle let alone wizard. But surely there was something he was not telling the professor; something important that had led him to the conclusion Estella was no threat.  
  
"I have to see her." He stated, waiting for Dumbledor to remove his holding spell, which he did most promptly.  
  
"I must escort you Severus, although I believe you would do nothing of the sort there are people who believe you would harm her."  
  
"Harm her? What is she that is so special?" Snape spat standing and brushing the dust from his black robes. Albus did not reply but instead turned towards the door and gestured for Severus to lead the way. Snape didn't know what was going on but whatever was in store for him was something big.  
  
The infirmary was almost dark when they arrived apart from a small light glowing from a single bedside menacingly calling him over. He could already see the soft shape her body made against the white sheets and he could already see the outline of her features, something which scared him the most.  
  
"Ah Professor Snape." Madam Pomfrey whispered with a small reassuring smile. "Just this way."  
  
Snape scowled to avoid the nurse feeling his fear and followed her begrudgingly towards the lit hospital bed.  
  
Estella's skin was pale blue contrasting with her red lips, it was as if someone had come half way to totally petrifying her but had not quite finished. Turning away Snape tried to erase the cold darkness of her eyes from his mind. He had known that as soon as he had seen them fear would well up inside him like a flooding river filling his every pore.  
  
Still she looked just as beautiful as she had done ten years ago, just as delicate and young. Shame you can't judge a book by its cover because in the past ten years she had been responsible for thousands of muggle and wizard deaths alike. The reason she killed wasn't known but it was feared by many that she might have been affected by the muggle condition of madness.  
  
"See Severus, I assure you that she is in no condition to start waking up any time soon." Albus said encouragingly but he could not see the threat that she posed. Estella would not just be petrified and appear here, in the same vicinity as Severus Snape for no reason. She would not allow herself to be petrified at all.  
  
He turned around again trying to reassure himself that she wouldn't awake any time soon. But those eyes, they haunted his dreams and his nightmares. Only now had he just started to stop them and she was here right in front of him.  
  
Suddenly they blinked fierce and fiery staring straight at him. Severus jumped back in fright straight into madam Pomfrey who would have toppled over if not for the quick thinking of Dumbledor who cast a spell stopping them in mid air.  
  
"What is going on Severus?!" He demanded letting him right himself before standing before him.  
  
"Did you not see?" Snape asked turning to Estella once more. The eyes were still, glazed over as they had previously been. This was some kind of joke surely!  
  
"Albus, you may find me in my office." He said in a quiet voice that was very unlike the usual Severus Snape. He turned to go not bothering to be dismissed but something stopped him before he even made it to the door.  
  
It wasn't a spell; it was something even more strange than that. He had to find out whether this was indeed a trick like something Estella would pull to get into the castle or if it was true.  
  
Cautiously he moved back towards the bed with the other magical professors watching him closely.  
  
Moving towards the prone body with his outstretched hand clutching his wand tightly. Closing his eyes he muttered a simple charm pointing the wand at her head. Slowly a white light emerged from the tip covering the bed with an eerie glow. She did not wake, but Snape was sure he had seen her eyes open. No hallucinations would claim him through fear. Not this time. Suddenly the lady in the bed raised up to face him, eyes glowing evilly red. "Severus." It hissed running her fingers over the soft skin of his face. He could feel himself start to hyperventilate, dizziness accompanied with a sick and hot feeling overcame him and he collapsed to the floor.  
  
"Professor Snape!" Professor Mcgonagall yelled watching in horror as Dumbledor aided madam Comfrey in picking the man up from the cold floor. He was sweating all over, delusional.  
  
"Help me put him on the bed." Madam Comfrey commanded. Dumbledor did as he was told and then sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Something is definitely not right here Minerva." He warned with a tone that even scared Mcgonagall herself. Still, he was right, nothing like this would happen to Severus unless black magic was behind it, he was never ill.  
  
News about Snape's incident had spread through the whole school like wild fire and everyone knew about it the next day. Although no one really knew the whole story, all they knew was that Snape had been attacked by black magic and was still in the hospital wing; there was not one student who didn't know how Snape would react when he woke up. With insatiable abhorrence to almost every student in Hogwarts, apart from his favourites in the Slytherin house that is.  
  
"Apparently someone got really annoyed with how he was shouting at them and planted one on him." Hermione broadcast among the eager group of listeners. She had become quite a little talker since the last incident with Snape. Her dislike of him grew each time he decided to take a crack at her.  
  
"What do you think Harry?" Ron asked lodging his head in his right hand.  
  
"I think that there wouldn't be a student in the whole of Hogwarts who would stand up to Snape like that, especially with a curse so strong. Besides no one would know anything that bad apart from a fully trained wizard or witch."  
  
Right again Hermione thought tiredly fending off more rumour spreaders. Something bad was going to happen at the school and no doubt if it concerned Snape it would concern Harry too. She stared at him deep in thought when Professor Mcgonagall stepped in front of them clearing her throat to interrupt their conversation.  
  
"Mr. Potter can I please have a word." She said as seriously as she always did. Harry stood trying to not draw too much attention to himself from the Slytherin gang.  
  
"Yes Professor Mcgonagall." He replied politely. He knew this was something to do with what had been going on, naturally.  
  
Harry was escorted into Albus Dumbledor's office and sat on a squashy chair before his desk. He always felt safe there no matter what was happening or even if something got into the castle, they could never get into Dumbledor's office.  
  
"As you have probably heard." The headmaster began shifting in his chair to get comfortable. "Professor Snape has been affected by a black magic curse."  
  
Harry nodded trying not to play with his robes, didn't want to look nervous in front of the greatest wizard of all time.  
  
"It is a curse which doesn't freeze the person like petrification. We are afraid that he has been spellbound," Dumbledor truly looked worried, but what was. "It is a curse much like being petrified but it traps the cursed inside their own mind and induces dark dreams and nightmares to plague them. The body mean while is also trapped within a fierce fever." Then Albus took a deep breath. "If the fever doesn't kill, the nightmares eventually get worse and worse until they die of fear."  
  
Although Severus Snape was one of his most hated professors in the school Harry suddenly could see how defenceless Snape truly was. He actually felt sorry for him, sure he had wished curses on him before but not serious ones not like this.  
  
"What can I do Professor Dumbledor?" He asked innocently, trying to wrack his brains for a solution. When he couldn't find anything of use he looked up at the headmaster again who was starting to speak.  
  
"The only thing that can save professor Snape now is the venom from a Methuselah, a snake with a deadly poison that kills instantly." Harry was confused, how could that help him?  
  
"However, if given willingly the snake can change the structure of its venom to a cure for the spellbound curse, but it will only do it if it is reasoned with." Dumbledor replied knowing exactly what was going on inside Harry's head.  
  
"You want me to talk to the snake in parcell-tongue to get it to give Snape the cure right?" Dumbledor smiled his approval at Harry's thinking and nodded. "Well lets get started straight away." Harry said suddenly but Dumbledor's smile faded.  
  
"The snake has yet to be found Mr. Potter." He replied sadly. "They are very rare and if we don't get one soon I fear that Professor Snape will die."  
  
Harry's eyes went wide this was serious! His brain went into work mode and he placed his hands on the desk in front of him sternly.  
  
"I'll go down to the library and try and find some information." Harry started but the headmaster held his hand up to quieten him.  
  
"The information you need," He began "is located in the restricted section. I can give you a pass but I suggest you pick only one other to help you in this matter, we don't need it spreading around the school."  
  
Harry grinned; he knew Hermione would know exactly what to do in a situation like this when her light reading consisted of a thousand-page book on magical history. Suddenly his smile faded,  
  
"But what about Ron?" He asked hoping that Dumbledor would give him a pass for him also. Alas the wizard shook his head and pulled out some parchment. "I am afraid that I can only issue a pass for you and Hermione, however if you were to relay the information to him also there is nothing I can do to stop you." Albus' eyes twinkled with defiance and he set about writing the pass.  
  
"I'll get straight on it Professor." He said as Dumbledor gave him the pass. He hoped beyond hope that Potter would find something of use and soon.  
  
* * *  
  
So far they had found nothing, only information about what would cure a spellbound person, what spellbinding was and how do to it. None of these had even given the slightest remark on how to find a Methuselah snake.  
  
Harry sighed reaching up to the top shelf where the books were gathering dust. He grabbed hold of a huge book covered in snakeskin this had to be something. When he brushed the years of dust from the cover he saw that the silver embossed words titled the book 'Snakes of the world', why hadn't he thought of this before?  
  
The cover opened with an aged creak and low and behold 15th on the contents page was the Methuselah snake.  
  
Filled with hope he nudged Hermione who was deep into a spell book again and turned the pages until he reached page 200.  
  
"The Methuselah snake - one of the most deadly snakes in the known world." He read aloud. "The appearance of the snake is deep red in colour estimated to grow up to 6 meters long with a tell tale black head. Its eyes glow red and most frightening are its 4-inch fangs."  
  
Hermione winced; this was going to be much harder than she had originally thought. Her beloved books wouldn't help them much this time Harry thought putting the book back onto the shelf.  
  
"Where do we start Harry?" She asked suddenly seeming very vulnerable. He put on a brave face; I have no idea he thought. He knew that the first step would be to see Dumbledor for an instruction of some sort.  
  
* * *  
  
Snape had been moved to his private chambers to avert attention from the students frequenting the hospital wing to see if it was true.  
  
Albus had stayed at his side watching for any subtle change in his condition. He had pondered on the idea of going into the professor's mind to get a better diagnosis but he wasn't practised in psyche-voyance and was not about to get himself trapped in the mind of someone suffering from this type of curse. Especially not Severus, the man had enough dark thoughts and past secrets to fuel the spellbound curse for years.  
  
No, the only person in the whole school who could enter his mind and come out alive was Aaniki - a young woman who was so formidable as a former student Dumbledor himself had requested that she stay.  
  
She had a natural talent that stretched far beyond wands and Latin words. Her magic came deep from within and it was rumoured around the present students that she was a powerful sorcerer who could even out match Dumbledor himself.  
  
The latter of course wasn't true in the sense of power but Albus was willing to bet that he could never outdo her without his wand, sure he was very powerful and had some degree of inner strength but no where near the amount she had.  
  
"Minerva call for Aaniki." He asked turning just as the professor walked through the door. The witch sighed; Albus had a habit of doing that.  
  
"Severus needs me?" A voice asked just as she had shut the chamber door. Minerva jumped turning to face a young red haired woman covered from head to toe in black robes. Her eyes glowed green as emeralds, questioning but calm.  
  
McGonagall smiled putting her hand over her chest to steady herself.  
  
"Yes my dear, follow me." She said pushing the door open gently. Albus smiled, he knew what was going to happen as soon as he had asked the witch to find Aaniki.  
  
Walking - no, gliding towards the bed Aaniki's face creased in a frown. Her worry for Severus often confused Albus, the potions master very rarely spoke a word to her. Maybe his dark charm had affected her she was after all human.  
  
The professor of potions lay still on the bed covered in a stark white sheet that increased the paleness of his skin and blackness of his hair. The only sign of life was the bead of sweat snaking it's way down his brow and the constant flickering of his eyelids as he wrestled a dream filled sleep of nightmares.  
  
Carefully she put her hand on his forehead shutting her eyes so she could concentrate on the connection. Albus watched in awe as a bright light grew around the still form of Severus. As soon as it had enveloped his whole body it transformed from a bright white into a deep red, almost the colour of a black rose.  
  
She opened her eyes and just seemed to stare at it and Albus didn't know what she was doing until she pulled her hand away and turned to face him.  
  
"He has a very dark past." She said suddenly, although she knew it was a well-known fact that Snape's previous years had not been a walk in park. She put her hand back and shut her eyes yet again attempting to do deeper into his consciousness.  
  
Minerva watched in awe at the ease with which she connected with another human being. She had always believed she had possesses the power to do it but never without a wand.  
  
Suddenly Aaniki jumped back in fright clutching her hand as if it was burning.  
  
"What did you see?!" Minerva shouted pulling the girl towards her. As she looked into the young woman's eyes she saw only complete disbelief and even slight fear, something to which she was no accustomed.  
  
"This is going to be much harder than I thought professor." She stammered removing her hands from McGonagall's grip. Taking one last look at the prone man on the bed she turned and walked out of the door. Albus and Minerva remained shocked until at least ten minutes had passed.  
  
Dumbledor used the time to regain his posture and turned to the transfiguration professor with a steely expression on his face.  
  
"You must return to your classes, this can only be organized if the school runs as normal." 


	2. Chapter 2

Throughout the next couple of days the school ran as it always had done, perhaps with a little more gossip and rumours floating around but normal all the same. Aaniki visited Severus rooms every day to assess his condition and slowly but surely he was succumbing to the power of the spellbound curse.  
  
She wouldn't say what she saw every time she went into the potion masters mind but every time she did she would come out more and more frightened than the previous session.  
  
Albus wanted to know every detail she saw, but how could she tell them about the death eaters and what they did to him? How could she tell them about the punishments he received every time Voldemort summoned him?  
  
This was the third time today she had visited the chambers in the dungeon. Something was bothering Aaniki so much that she had to find the cause of it and eradicate it.  
  
As she entered the coldness seemed to radiate from Severus, something more than the spellbound curse was upon him and it was boosting its power. It was as if it was taking away any goodness left within him and torching his soul into a smouldering black chasm.  
  
Previously in the day she had taken the opportunity to go into the restricted section much to the envy of a table of Slytherin onlookers. They didn't like her power she told herself often. Most Slytherins were greedy power mongers, save the odd few who had arisen through out the years of Hogwarts.  
  
"Evening Severus." She muttered as she reached his bedside. According to her research this was akin to the muggle state of comatose and apparently the person in the coma could still hear you, it helped to talk to them. Aaniki doubted it would have any affect on Severus' condition but she was open to suggestions.  
  
He hadn't moved from the previous day and was still in the same stiff position, a frown adorning his features and his fists clenched at his sides almost in pain.  
  
"How are you today?" She asked trying to sound cheerful, though how could one be cheerful in a time like this? Shaking her head in defeat she sat on the small wooden stool next to his bed placing her hands on the warm mattress.  
  
She closed her eyes preparing to clear her mind in order to take on his. This was going to be the first time she had gone in fully, to the deepest darkest dreams that were pulling at his mind. She was worried not to mention scared and - something was touching her hand.  
  
She opened her eyes expecting to see the ruffled fur of a rodent of some sort but was faced with the soft pale flesh of Severus Snape's hand clutching her own smearing a red substance onto her flesh. Blood.  
  
Aaniki turned her hand over and winced at the small half moon shapes of blood where he had obviously dug his nails in his palms. Then it dawned on her, he had taken her hand as if he knew she was there.  
  
"How could that be?" She asked herself confused and fascinated at the same time. The crimson stain on her hand fell into the back of her mind and she prepared herself once again to enter this troubled psyche.  
  
The passage to where Severus was being held was a treacherous maze of thoughts and memories betraying the secrets of his tortured soul. She had to stay focused, do not pay attention to them she told herself as his screams echoed through her mind. She closed her mind to everything until one memory almost smacked her in the face stunning her with its presence.  
  
Estella, the girl petrified in the hospital wing stood awake before her draped over Severus like a plague. Judging on the look of him Aaniki placed the potions master to be roughly in his late 30s. Estella on the other hand looked as she did today, which severely unnerved Aaniki.  
  
Since it was a memory, the participants could not see Aaniki as she existed in a completely different time span than they did, which comforted the witch enough to make her stay.  
  
"Our fifteenth anniversary Severus." Estella drooled as if her voice was made from pure velvet.  
  
No wonder Severus had been such an easy target for this mad woman, he had clutched onto a small glimmer of hope that she would be this person somewhere in that sick mind of hers and cast a truth spell upon the bitch. She had taken this opportunity to reach him through the inner power that he projected through his wand.  
  
Severus was smiling and Aaniki watched as a small sparkle passed through his black eyes when he handed something tightly wrapped in a box to Estella.  
  
Her eyes lit up taking the box from Severus almost greedily. The ribbon fell to the floor as she rushed to open the box at a feverish pace. Aaniki wondered if she actually did love Severus, or whether she was just playing a game. Finally the lid was removed with a low swish clattering on the floor as Estella's eyes searched out the gift from the shredded paper.  
  
Glinting beneath the paper was a Topaz ring encrusted with diamonds. An engagement ring - something adopted from the muggle tradition. Estella beamed as Severus placed it on her finger taking her face in his hands he spoke;  
  
"Estella will you marry me?" He asked, which shocked Aaniki so much her mouth fell open dumbstruck. This couldn't be Severus 'I never smile' Snape, the potions master who would take any chance he got to remove points from any house but his own.  
  
"Oh." Estella apparently shared the same state as Aaniki her eyes wide and filling with tears. "I thought you'd never ask!" She yelled pulling him into a passionate kiss, which threatened to cut of his air supply by the look on his face.  
  
Aaniki watched for a little longer until it was apparent that nothing else was going to happen. Clearing her mind she let herself dissolve back into the passage she intended to follow.  
  
The memories called to her, begging to be seen but these were the happy memories that were pushed out of the way to make way for the haunting dreams that she hoped would soon invade her path. So far she had only touched the surface and much of what she had seen she had cast a spell on herself to forget.  
  
This time she would remember and Dumbledor would be told.  
  
The landscape of his mind changed bringing her upon a dead end, which hadn't been there before.  
  
The memories became darker, this was the point she had come upon before. It encompassed the time of Severus when he was a much hated death eater. She had seen a small amount of his atrocities and they had frightened her more than anything she had seen but that was not what she intended to search for this time. Stumbling upon the memory of Snape enjoying happy times with Estella had started her thinking. If he hated the woman so much and by what Minerva had told her most definitely feared her then the reason for that must be locked within these memories.  
  
Standing perfectly still she appareted within his mind transporting her to another memory that included Estella.  
  
"I have no father." A past Severus muttered cruelly as she passed a memory of him talking with Dumbledor, maybe this was the time he came to Hogwarts for much needed help.  
  
She was tempted to find out how much Severus had really told the great Albus Dumbledor. Did he really have no father? Or was it a desperate lie and a reason for salvation.  
  
"Oh Aaniki." A voice echoed behind her almost slimy in its tone. She knew it instantly and spun around to face the intruder.  
  
There was no one there, only another memory. Wait it wasn't just another memory; it was the one she was looking for.  
  
Severus was sleeping in a darkened room seeming tired out, almost unconscious. As Aaniki walked further into the room the walls closed in behind her, cutting her off from her path.  
  
Ignoring it she crept closer to Severus half expecting to see him with a slit throat or something but never the less he was breathing steadily, which was most likely due to the dreamless sleep potion half empty in a bottle beside his bed.  
  
Suddenly a loud wail from across the room broke the silence and Severus jerked awake into a sitting position. He pushed the covers aside and looked over to where the howling originated. So did Aaniki and to her surprise there stood Estella bending over the small body of a young baby. It stared eyes wide at what you could only presume was its mother, a small grin pasted across its toothless mouth.  
  
Could this be why their relationship had fallen apart?  
  
Estella gazed lovingly at the small figure and then back at the smiling Severus.  
  
"I am sorry Severus Snape."  
  
Suddenly whipping her wand out from inside her robes she cried "Crucio!"  
  
She watched Severus fall from the bed onto the cold floor before turning to the baby and bringing the tip of her wand to rest on its forehead.  
  
A twisted smile caressed her features like mist as she turned towards Snape once more. He was shaking in pain from the crucio curse but still forced his eyes open to face her.  
  
"What are you doing Ella?" He asked utterly naïve of the situation. Estella said nothing, her eyes turning a nasty shade of red as she turned the wand on Severus and once more uttering the curse so slowly that Snape could almost see the light that leapt from her wand and engulfed his body in a white hot fire.  
  
Aaniki watched shocked as he doubled over in pain, trying desperately to reach his baby.  
  
"To late Snape." She muttered moving the wand back to the baby. Betrayal laced the witches voice and the curse rolled naturally off of her tongue killing the baby instantly.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!"  
  
"NO!" Severus screamed his face contorted in terror just before he collapsed in a painful heap. His body twitched every now and then as the Crucio curse began to wear off easing his physical suffering but adding to the mental pain that attacked his psyche.  
  
Why had she killed their baby? 


End file.
